Love on a battlefield
by Dellta0
Summary: This is a ShokichiXJoseph & AkariXJoseph story. This takes place in episode 2 when Annex 1 is about to leave the Earth.
1. Chapter 1

Joseph's eyes narrowed a bit from the strain of having been staring at the bright monitor screens in the dark control room for the last few minutes. He listened as his captain delivered a cheerful message to the new lot on board via the speakers. He thought it sweet of him to act in such a calming manner when handling youngsters, considering the fact that he knew that probably half of them wouldnt make it once they arrived to Mars.

He felt himself relaxing a bit more from the words that soothingly made their way into his ears. His eyes then focused on one of the monitors where a group of new recruits were standing, seemingly frozen in time as they listened to the message. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth when he looked over to Shokichi chatting away in the speakers, and he took a quiet step back before turning to leave the room. He really enjoyed being around his captain whenever he could. Whenever work allowed it. However, since the said man was currently busy, he decided on finding entertainment elsewhere for now.

The new recruits made him curious and he wondered what they would be like in action. How they would put up with a fight. A real fight. Perhaps he should go and take a closer peek at them.

In one of the training facilities on board, a group of recruits were busying themselves with different kinds of work outs. One of them, a young man named Akari was currently doing some target practicing on some of the many dummies in the room. The big gun was quite heavy, but wasnt really a problem for a physically fit man like himself. He paused for a second, still focusing on the dummy that had been the victim of his last round of bullets. The loud sound of gunfire echoed between the walls as two of his fellow soldiers once again fired their weapons. He himself found that he had turned his head to the left to see two of the squad leaders watching them from the stands a short distance away. The reason that he turned must have been because he had felt their eyes on him.

The taller man's lower face was hidden beneath the collar of his coat, Adolf was his name, or so he thought anyway. Despite the collar, he could tell that they were speaking to each other from the way the other man seemed to be happily chatting away. His eyes narrowed slightly. What was his name again..? It was something that begun with a J... That was all that he could remember. He should ask him. Not that it mattered much, but there was something that bothered him about this lack of knowledge.

A voice snapped him out of his thoughts and he turned to see one of the other recruits, a man with spikes of blonde hair standing straight up on his head, smirking at him.

"I saaaiid- Do you want to come with us to the dining hall?" the guy's eyebrows raised slowly after this question. Two girls were standing a couple of meters behind him, also staring at Akari. One of them smiled at him when their eyes met. He turned his head back to the stands without a word, seeing that the two squad leaders were leaving. Again, he turned to the other recruits.

"Fine", he replied without much emotion in his voice or features. He was sort of in a whatever mood tonight. "I could need something to eat." The night was coming to an end soon anyway.

An hour or so passed and most people on board were either just chilling or preparing themselves for bed. Not so much in the officers' quarters though. A thin layer of smoke filled the common room where the six squad leaders were gathered. The one guilty of pestering the air, Sylvester Asimov, exhaled yet another cloud, his hard gaze focused on the board game on the table before him.

It wasnt his turn, but Michelle's. She was calmly contemplating her next move from across the round table while the others waited patiently. Finally, she put her game piece on the spot of her choice, earning no reactions from the other three players, except for Joseph's thoughtful lip bite. He was sitting next to Sylvester on the couch, watching as Adolf lifted his hand to move his game piece. It seemed that he had already decided on a move, and it obviously put a stop to Michelle's plans judging from her annoyed expression. It caused Joseph to chuckle a little and he grabbed his third bottle for the evening to chug the remaining alcohol down his throat. The others hadnt even finished their first drinks yet.

"My turn!" he exclaimed suddenly while slamming the bottom of the bottle back onto the table, making the game pieces wobble slightly. Michelle sighed and leaned back in her chair.

"Keep it down, will you?" she sighed again. The noise had brought Shokichi's attention from the window up by the bar, and his head turned to focus on the younger man. So did Liu next to him. The two men had been engaged in a deep conversation when interrupted so suddenly. Shokichi swirled the wine around in his glass a tiny bit before walking over towards his playing colleges.

"That's enough", he decided when the bottle was once again going to meet with Joseph's lips. His eyes met the currently confused blonde's gaze while he gently, but firmly grabbed the bottle to put it back onto the table. "Dont forget that we have work to do in the morning." Joseph didnt make any resistance, but merely put on a slightly annoyed expression. The captain moved towards the door then without another word, thinking it time to call it a night. None of the others thought much of his concern for the younger man's drinking. They knew that there was something between the two.

"Perhaps we should continue this another time", said Michelle, having raised her arm to look at his watch. Sylvester nodded in agreement.

"Aye", he replied and put his cigarette out on the ash tray while Adolf got up and adjusted his collar a bit.

"That's a shame", Joseph qiuetly complained, not feeling quite done with his evening yet. Oh well. The retreating back of his captain reminded him that he should get his security round over with before withdrawing to go to sleep himself. "Well then", he started, sounding more cheerful this time. "See you guys later", and with that said, he pushed away from the couch to hurry to the door. Once outside, he saw Shokichi's back disappear around a corner. He wasnt going in that direction. He needed to check the south east part of the ship. That was his assigned area of responsibility. Since they had left the earth the other day, there had been a failure of the mechanism controlling the closing and opening of the ship's outer protective layer. Therefor they had to do it manually until their engineer had fixed the problem.

As he walked the lonely, sterile corridors of the ship, he hummed a song quietly to himself. He wondered how the new recruits were doing their first few days on board. Alot of them had seemed surprisingly cocky considering what odds of survival they had been given. He himself was confident in his ability to survive. Probably too confident according to some, but he wasnt a newbie or anything, so he felt he had the right to.

He found the first lever a few minutes later on the right side wall. Without much thought or commitment, he pulled it and continued on to repeat the action at another location. When he was nearing his goal, he thought he heard voices. Not an awfully strange occurence on a ship with a hundred people in it, but he would have thought most of them would be in their quarters at this hour. He followed the voices towards the dining hall with quieter steps. In there were four new recruits by a lonely table in te back, close to the cafeteria. They seemed to be too engaged in a conversation to notice his presence, so he cleared his throat with a smirk on his face, gaining their attention. He loved that look of shock on their faces.

"Dont stay up too late, kids", he told them casually with an added wink before he turned and continued on his route. The "kids" exchanged looks and then apologized before continuing what they had been doing previous to the interruption. Akari however was still staring at the doorway, feeling that nagging question in the back of his mind again. What was that guy's name? He downed the last of the soda in his bottle and looked at the others.

"Hey", he addressed no one in particular. "Do you know his name?" he was met with looks that told him that they gears were turning in confusion in their heads. Then they seemed to get it together.

"The officer?" asked the guy named Marcos, dumbfounded. Before Akari could say anything in return, a softer voice spoke from across the table.

"I think it was Joseph", Sheila, the dark haired girl, answered tiredly and rubbed her eyes. Akari's gaze became unfocused for a moment and he realized how tired he was himself. He offered a nod in return and got up from his seat.

"Well... I'm going to withdraw", he informed them and stretched a bit. Marcos didnt look too disappointed to be left alone with two cute girls, and Akari didnt mind either. He wasnt interested in any of them. After having said their goodbyes, he left the dining hall to head towards his room, which he unfortunately shared with two other men. Such was the life of a mere soldier. Could wonder if the officers had their own rooms...

The sudden sound of footsteps nearby drew his attention to a certain officer and he figured that it must be him coming back this way again. He felt curious about the man for some reason, and it made him slow down to a stop to allow the steps to gain up on him. While he was waiting, he leaned back against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest casually. His gaze was focused on the nearby corner where he was certain that the owner of the steps would show up. Rightfully so, the young officer rounded the corner seconds later.

Their eyes met for a moment and Joseph flashed him a quick, crooked smile before passing and continuing on down the corridor. Akari felt he should have said something, but he just didnt know what... Oh well. Whatever..It was too late now. He was very intruiged by what skills could lie behind the reason the man had been choosen as an officer. It was admirable..

When Joseph had disappeared behind yet another corner, Akari found himself curious as to were the man was headed. Hmm... He moved his foot slightly forward as if hesitating whether he should...follow him or not. He didnt want to get caught, but... who cares. He decided to brush his worries off and sneaked up to the corner with quiet steps. He didnt really have anything better to do anyway. He was feeling pretty restless and in need of stimulation.

After two minutes of sneaking and pressing up against different walls, they both entered a wider and nicer looking series of corridors. He figured that it must mean that they were in a more important part of the ship. He almost forgot that he was stalking while looking around this new, interesting place. They soon passed a couple of bigger rooms which looked like they could be common rooms, before arriving to a section of what looked like a row of hotel room doors.

Very nice... but where did those...? He stopped in mid thought when he noticed that Joseph had come to a halt in front of one of the doors. He was now facing it and seemed to be typing a code into a column on the wall. A soft beeping sound errupted from it when Joseph was done, and the said person opened the door and disappeared inside the room.

Akari relaxed a bit now that his stalking was over with. Well then...this must be the officers' quarters then, he thought to himself and curiously took a step from his hiding place behind the corner. This would actually be a perfect opportunity to check of Sheila had been right about the man's name. With a growing smile on his lips, Akari quietly walked down the corridor to lay his eyes on the tag on that special door. When he saw it though, his smile faded and he stared at the name in confusion for a few seconds. Then realization kicked in. This was the quarters of their captain... not Joseph..or whatever his name really was. The gears started to turn in his head again and he started to worry. What could they be talking about at this hour. He hoped that everything was ok. That there wasnt anything seriously wrong with the ship, or with their mission. With a grave expression on his face, he started heading back the way he came, preparing himself for a possible emergancy situation.

Inside the captain's quarters, Joseph casually threw his coat aside, shifting his gaze to Shokichi in the dim light by the desk up ahead.

"Ahh..Joseph", the older man turned to face him, tearing his gaze from the paper in his hand. "Come on over here." Naturally, the younger man did so, smirking charmingly at his love interest. He allowed Shokichi to grab his chin to bring his lips to his in a firm kiss. His eyes closed and butterflies started fluttering around in his belly. He then let out a satisfied sigh before Shokichi pulled away again.

"One of the recruits followed me here"; he hummed while opening his eyes. "Didnt think I noticed", he chuckled, earning a surprised look from his captain.

"Hmmm...", was all that was said in response to that particular thing and Shokichi took another look at the paper before placing it on the desk. "Lets get some sleep", he suggested with a soft smile and moved to grab Joseph's hand that had been roaming over his back and bum.

"Sure", the younger man purred, smirking at him again.

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Ok, that's it for this chapter. Would anyone be interested in another one?


	2. Chapter 2

The morning eventually came, without any emergancy situations. Everything was as fine as it had been the morning before. Or so it seemed anyway. When Akari woke up, his roommates were still sound asleep. Taking a look at the clock on the wall, he realized that it was time to get up in half an hour. He thought he might as well get out of bed right now. The first thing that popped into his unfocused mind was breakfast, and then he would like to do something fun. No training. Just something relaxing. Hell, he had almost a month's worth of time to practice his skills as well as combat. He needed a change of scenery today,

He yawned and cleared his throat as he pushed himself up to sit and to finally get out of bed. The air outside of his cosy blanket was slightly cool, but not to the point of being freezing or uncomfortable. He grabbed yesterday's tshirt from the floor and put it on. It was all that he needed to look presentable enough to leave his quarters for breakfast. Accompanied with a pair of pants of course.  
As he left and closed the door behind him, he was suddenly reminded of that interesting officer. He also remembered the people he had been hanging out with last night. He couldnt really call any of them friends yet, but he did enjoy their company. He thought he would head to the dining hall and see if perhaps they would be kind enough to let him inside early.

About fourty minutes later, the dining hall was crawling with most of the 80 recruits on board, and the sound of voices, cutlery and other things made it a bit difficult to hear your own thoughts. Akari was slowly chewing his food, being unusually quiet this morning. His gaze was fixed on a table pretty far from his. The officers were gathered around that particular table. Maybe someday he would like to become one of them. To be respected and admired. Not just a soldier among soldiers.

His eyes mostly focused on the man he would refer to as Joseph for now. Why was he so strangely obsessed with wanting to know more about him..? He felt a tad bit embarrassed by his choice of clothes also, seeing how the officers were dressed in their fancy suits, with ties to go with them. He felt so...underdressed. Right as he was thinking about how that Joseph looked so good in just anything, he felt a nudge on his arm. The ice blonde girl from yesterday had attempted to get his attention. Eva was her name.

"Huh?" he had abruptly been snapped out of his thoughts and had therefor not been able to formulate a more intelligent response. Eva laughed softly at him.

"Are you going to eat that?" she asked kindly, with a playfulness to it. Akari realized that her finger was pointing to... He looked down at this untouched sandwhich. Oh...right... food. He returned a slightly forced smile and then grabbed the sandwich.

"Yeah... I was just... thinking...", he stared ahead of him now, his elbows placed on the table and his hands holding the sandwhich before his mouth. The girl had a thoughtful and concerned expression on her face now, but she decided not to ask him if there was something bothering him. Instead, she put on a new smile.

"What are you going to do today?" she wished to know before taking a sip from her hot chocolate. This caught the attention of their friend Marcos, and he looked excited all of a sudden.

"I think we should go to the pools", another friend of them, Alex, who was sitting opposite of Eva looked up with an unimpressed expression on his face.

"I'd rather do target practice", he said with a low voice and then continued to poke his food with his fork.

"Going to the pool sounds like a fantastic idea. Dont you think, Akari?" Eva said with excitement in her voice as well as in her features. Her and Marcos stared at the addressed man for a few seconds. The said man was still holding his sandwich with an absent look on his face. He just couldnt figure out why he felt weird. Maybe he had caught some sort of desease... Or maybe it was just some sort of space sickness. It didnt make sense though as his problem was psychological, not physical.

"Yeah..that sounds great", he replied and finally took a bite of his sandwich. Had Joseph been a girl he would have figured he had a crush, by now, but since he believed himself to be straight, it never struck his mind that that could be the case. He decided to tear his gaze off the...handsome man at the officers table and to finish his breakfast. Or else he might end up sitting there for another half an hour.

As soon as their group was done, he would hurry back to his quarters to put on something more respectable. He wouldnt want Joseph to see him like this...

About half an hour later, the officers found themselves in the training facility. Shokichi had decided that it was crucial to teach the recruits as much as possible at this early stage on their journey. The longer they practiced, the better chance they would stand against the terraformars. Nothing could prepare them enough for a real fight with one of those things though. His hard gaze on the training dummies softened at the sound of Joseph yawning loudly in the seat next to him. It caused him to shift his gaze to said man.

"Where is everyone?" the blonde yawned again as he looked towards the entrance of the big hall. Only some of the recruits had shown up so far. They knew that their captain had ordered them to be here after breakfast, and yet they seemed to...take their sweet time.

"Lets get down there", Michelle suggested as they were currently at the stands. The point of them all being present here was to help the recruits with their training, not to play the role of the on lookers. The other officers agreed and they started their way down the stairs as more and more of the recruits entered. Some were excited while others were nervous. Some of them looked like they didnt care much at all.

Akari and his group of..friends, he supposed, were among the last to arrive to the hall. He was already in a bit of a bad mood because of his strange emotions. It didnt help that he would have to do training today when he really didnt feel up to it. His heart skipped a beat when he spotted Joseph in there and his lips parted slightly. He quickly closed them again. Good God... What was wrong with him? His heart just seemed to be unable to stop fluttering in his chest. It was a...strangely pleasant fluttering though...

"Listen up everyone!" came the sudden, sharp voice of their captain and there was instant silence in the hall. "Today is the perfect day for you all to put your skills to the test in this magnificent training facility. To help you improve and to answer any questions you might have, you have yours truly here today", he flashed them a quick grin. As well as my amazing subordinates here", he added and gazed at the crowd of young recruits watching him. "Well then. Off you go", he made a gesture towards the nearest practice dummies, and the most outgoing youngsters quickly followed his orders. The less spontanious ones soon followed their lead.

'Well..ok then', Akari thought to himself. He would just have to endure this and do the best he could. Soon, there was not a training dummy in the hall that was untouced by bullets and or kicks and punches. The officers had also spread out to cover as much of their students as possible.

Joseph yawned for the sixth time that morning. He didnt want to seem bored or uninterested in his recruits' work outs, but...His gaze landed on Akari a short distance away and his eyes narrowed a tiny bit. He remembered him very well. Not only was he the most promising and powerful recruit on this ship, but he had also stalked him last night. Could wonder what his deal was.  
Akari's eyes suddenly met with his and he shifted his gaze casually to some nearby recruits instead, checking out their moves as they used their guns. Some liked to practice close combat, but the majority was using their guns.

Akari's heart had picked uo some speed now that those...blue eyes had gazed into his for a whole two seconds. He thought to himself that this would be the perfect opportunity for him to ask for the man's name. The thought made him a bit nervous, but he felt alot more confident now than he had at breakfast. This time he was wearing his good looking armor and pretty, long coat. Then came that hesitating thought in the back of his mind again. That thought that said that he didnt need to know the blonde's name. That it wasnt important, but... it was wrong.. It was important. It was imporant to him. He just had difficulty admitting it to himself. He cleared his throat quietly to himself and then called out to Joseph.

"Excuse me!" he waited to see if the officer had heard him or not. It seemed he had, because he turned casuelly and locked eyes with him. "I have a question", he added once Joseph was heading his way. Feeling a bit more confident now, Akari casually swung the big gun over his shoulder to let it rest there. The way he was standing just screamed of sexual appeal and confidence. It was exactly how he wanted to come across. That's how he believed he could get any girl to fall for him. Not that Joseph here was a girl, and not that he wanted him to fall for him. He just wanted to impress him. That's all...

"What's up?" the blonde asked him when coming to a stop before him. There were a few seconds of silence where Akari seemed to have forgotten time and space and was just staring at the man. He had never had an encounter with him this personal before. Joseph raised an eyebrow at Akari, his lips parting as if to repeat his question, or possibly ask what the hell was with him. Right then though, Akari seemed to have found his voice again.

Where exactly are their weak points? Where would be the best place to shoot them?" he wondered, speaking of the terraformars of course.

"Well..", Joseph started. He wondered what was up with this guy... He stalked people and now he seemed to have spaced out again. Pff... So much for the oh so great Akari Hizamaru. "First of all", he reached out and grabbed the gun from its owner. "let me borrow this for a moment."

Akari watched him with a puzzled look on his face before the corner of his mouth twisted upwards in a soft smirk.

"Their backs are obviously a no no", Joseph said, focusing on the dummy up ahead. "With the shell and though skin and all that." Akari tore his gaze off the blonde to settle it on the dummy as well. "So anything on their fronts is a good idea. As well as this spot", he added and suddenly took off running, leaving Akari in the dust, a bit surprised.

He watched him dash towards the dummy to throw himself on his back to slide in between the target's "feet" while opening fire into its rear end. He slowed down to a stop behind the dummy and quickly jumped to his feet in the most graceful way. Akari blinked once, wondering how he could be that flexible. Like an athlete... Like a...leopard.. He straightened up a little when Joseph headed back towards him, and he smirked again.

"Nice", he commented once they were face to face again and his gun was handed back to him.

"I suggest you practice that move if you intend to use it in battle", was all Joseph said as a response, as well as a wink before he turned to leave. A sudden hand grabbed his arm and stopped him from going anywhere though, and he turned his head back to look at the strange man right as his arm was released.

"What was your name again?" Akari asked him, seemingly unbothered by the fact that he had just grabbed an officer like that. Since Joseph had a tendency to recover pretty quickly, he casually answered him.

"It's Joseph", he replied simply and was then on his way again to see if anyone else needed his help. What a weirdo, that Akari. The brunette watched him for a few seconds before he turned to look at the dummy again. He was glad that he finally knew his name, and what a sexy show he had gotten on top of that. Man...he was handsome... Akari shook his head to himself and a dark expression came over his features. What was he thinking? He blushed from his own thoughts and sighed deeply. Could this be...love..? He didnt like that idea, but what could he do about it? Nothing... He wondered how he could get to know him more... Get him to notice him. Did he really want to do that though? It scared him.

The next couple of hours were pretty dull and slow and he didnt have any more excuses for calling Joseph over again. It put him in a bad mood again. He would really like to be somewhere else right now. When he glanced through the room, he spotted the officers by the door and saw the captain playfully ruffling Joseph's hair. They seemed to be good friends. He wished he could get the blonde to smile like that too...Perhaps if... He would have to figure something out. Maybe he could ask the other officers about the man's interests. Or rather, ask them what they liked to do on board. A less suspicious and more discreet way of gaining the information he wanted.

Feeling a bit better about everything now, he continued on with his practice until it was time for lunch. He didnt really care about food right now though. He was too busy with working out plans for how he could get to know Joseph better. In another part of the hall, the officers were preparing to round up the excercises for the day and Shokichi ordered them to inform their respective groups that they could leave for lunch. He himself had something he needed to do before he could allow himself to sit down and eat.

While he was heading towards the exit, he noticed that Joseph was following him. He glanced over his shoulder once.

"Why dont you go ahead and eat? There is something I need to take care of", he informed the blonde and continued on through the doorway and out into the dim lit corridor outside.

"What exactly?" came Joseph's curious voice as he walked up next to Shokichi. The man turned his head to look at his lover.

"I cant tell you that", he explained with a neutral expression and continued on forward.

"That's fine", Joseph seemed to shrug it off. Instead, he decided to grab a hold of Shokichi's wrist to slow him down to a stop. The older man gave him a look that said he didnt really have time for this, but Joseph didnt really care. Instead, he leaned in to kiss him.

"This is not the time or place, Joseph", Shokichi made clear, still giving him that disapproving look. All he got in return was an amused, yet loving smile.

"Come on, Shokichi", Joseph hummed in a whisper almost, leaning in again, close to, but not kissing him. The captain inhaled deeply and let it out as a sigh. He was quite a handfull, Joseph. He couldnt find it in him to be irritated though. After all, he was really mesmerised by him. Eventually, he gently grabbed the blonde's waist to bring his body against his and closed the gap between their lips. He hungrily kissed him, enjoying how his caring hands roamed over his lower back and hips, and how he playfully nibbled at his bottom lip every now and then.

"Hey! Get a room you two", came a rough voice from a short distance away, and they both broke away from each other to stare in shock at Sylvester. The man was grinning at them now and then burst out laughing at their guilty expressions. "I'm kidding", he snickered and earned a deep sigh from Shokichi in return. The recruits had started to exit the hall now, filling the corridors in both directions. He took another step away from Joseph. This was not one of his finest moments.

"Go get yourself something to eat", was all he said, sounding pretty neutral. It was something he was used to doing as a captain. As an important person. He needed to be able to put his emotions aside at work, and he had failed at that today. He started walking again and would not easily let anything more disctract him on his way to his destination. Joseph shrugged, and a hint of pink was slowly fading from his cheeks. Then he headed towards the dining hall.


	3. Chapter 3

I'm sorry it took me a while to update this. Thank you so much for the review! and thanks to a couple of friends who are reading this but not leaving any reviews : P You keep me motivated

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Later, when they had all arrived to the dining hall, Akari listened to his friends going on about random things. One of them were how they thought Shokichi was so handsome and cool. Akari didnt think them wrong, he just... had eyes for someone else..obviously. It was something that had been quite painful to admit to himself. He just hoped that no one else was set on this certain someone.

"I still think we should go to the pool", came Evas persistent voice suddenly. Then came Alex's voice.

"Or we could go to the library", he suggested. Akari watched them trying to decide on how they should spend the rest of the day and suddenly wondered what Joseph was going to do. Perhaps work... He tensed when he noticed that the man he had been staring at on and off during their lunch suddenly met his gaze. At first he felt caught and stunned, but then he smiled softly before turning his attention back to his food. Not many seconds passed before he dared to peek at his love interest again. This time, Joseph had gotten up from his chair together with Michelle and the two were now heading for the cafeteria.

Akari realized that this might be his chance to ask them... about their interests. All he needed to do was to pretend that he needed something from the cafeteria. Like...a drink... Genius! His heart was already beating fast in his chest as he stood. He was a bit nervous, but also driven by his interest for Joseph. It overrode the anxiety pretty well.

Up by the cafeteria, the two officers were trying to decide on what they wanted to drink. Joseph started to unscrew the lid of one bottle, but then changed his mind and took another one instead. Halfway threw unscrewing it, he decided that this wasnt the one he wanted after all. He had to have different one.

"Joseph!" Michelle scolded him. "You cant do that". He flashed her an apologetic grin before trying to decide whether this drink he was holding now was a good enough choice. The contens had a nice, pale green color. It should do. He didnt want to be yelled at again. Right then, he spotted Akari coming towards them and was suddenly very interested in the bottle again.

"Hey", the brunette greeted them quietly and grabbed the first bottle he could reach on the counter. Michelle nodded at him and took a sip from her bottle.

"Hey...Hizamaru..", Joseph was still not looking at Akari, but decided that he would at least have to acknowledge his prescence. He opened his final bottle and sniffed its contents. Michelle rolled her eyes at him and then looked at Akari who seemed to want to say something.

"Sorry to disturb you guys...but I was just curious...", he made a pause and cleared his throat. "What do...", the bottle in his hand suddenly slipped out of it and he desperately tried to catch it. His attempts to do so failed horribly and the bottle made contact with the floor a couple of seconds later. Damn...that was embarrassing. He could feel his cheeks starting to heat up but was distracted by Joseph's sudden laughter. He stared at the blonde, slightly caught off guard for a moment before his cheeks started to turn red once again. God...he was cute. Strangely enough, Josephs laughter distracted him enough to cool down and start to forget about his accident. He was still staring, like in a trance, admiring the man's beautiful features.

In the meantime, Michelle took the liberty to pick up the dropped bottle from the floor to hand it back to Akari. She also smacked Joseph over the head before leaving them to return to her table.

"...Thanks..", Akari managed to blurt out when she was already leaving, and then he realized that his plan had failed. Damnit... Now there was only Joseph left to ask...and he didnt want to make it seem like it was personal...

"Sorry about that", Joseph apologized with a guilty smile after having calmed down a bit.

"It's fine", Akari replied and shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "So...I just wanted to ask what you guys do for fun around here", he cleared his throat, hoping it wouldnt get too awkward.

"Fun...?" Joseph bit his lower lip, pondering over this. He wondered why Akari was so interested in making small talk with him. He had made friends among the other recruits, hadnt he? "Well...I kind of like to beat Shokichi's ass at computer games", he said this with a growing grin and a slightly distant look on his face, as if he was remembering a certain occassion where he had done he seemed to come back to the present again.

"There isnt much to do on this ship, although swimming is pretty nice", he said and took a sip from his bottle.

"Uhu", Akari replied and studied Joseph's face. Those eyelashes...and this plump lips. He had never seen such a pretty guy before. "Well...maybe we could play sometime", he suggested without thinking it through first. He tried not to seem too interested though. Luckily for him, he didnt recieve that surprised or weirded out look that he had feared he might get in return. Joseph actually seemed thrilled.

"Sure. Why not. I could need someone new to beat", he smirked at Akari who returned it.

"We'll see about that", he replied, still smirking playfully. Joseph just snorted at him and started heading back to his table.

"Dont get too confident", he replied as he walked and Akari's smirk slowly turned into a smile as he watched his love interest leave. A few seconds had passed before he decided to tear his gaze from him and head back to his own table. His heart was beating fast in his chest again, but not from anxiety this time. It was from excitement and joy.

Later that day, Akari had agreed on going to the pool with his friends. He supposed he could start calling them that now. He was sitting on the edge of the pool, dangling his legs in the hot water. He was having a good time with the others, but all he could think about was Joseph. He felt so... sexually frustrated today. The thought of doing another man disturbed him a little...but it also made him curious and a bit excited. He just hoped he would get to do that with Joseph. It was a long shot, but...it wasnt impossible. This only made him more frustrated and impatient and he hoped he would get to see him soon again.

Three days had now passed since Akari had last talked to Joseph, and he still hadnt gotten to play any games with him. He hadnt even seen him that much, and when he did, there had been no opportunities to talk to him. This caused him to feel more frustrated than ever. It was beginning to feel difficult to deal with and he didnt have anyone he could talk to about it either. Perhaps the only way to see Joseph was to hang out close to the officers quarters. There had to be some sort of excuse he could use to make it reasonable for him to be there. This gave him a bit of hope and he was willing to try almost anything to get to talk to his favorite officer.

Two more days passed and Akari was becoming more and more anxious and distressed. He had lost interest in most things. Nothing seemed fun anymore. He was just so bored of everything. Except for Joseph of course. He didnt want to push his friends away, but he didnt have a lot of motivation for doing anything lately. He seriously needed to go look for the man, even if he would have to go so far as to overstep a couple of boundaries to get there. Maybe he should...confess his feelings...Or not... The thought of it made him anxious and there was suddenly a big lump in his chest.

He couldnt sit here anymore, staring and thinking, so he got up from the chair to leave his room. First of all, he needed to go to the bathroom and then he could work on a plan. When he had walked for about one minute, he ran into two soaked girls. They had a towel each wrapped around their bodies. He couldnt help but to grin when he noticed that they were wearing clothes, and not swim wear.

"What happened to you two?" he asked nicely, feeling a need to find out. The two started passing him. One girl sighed and the other locked eyes with him for a moment.

"...Two officers jumped in the pool and soaked us...", she didnt sound angry or anything. A tad bit embarrassed maybe. Akari's eyebrows raised a bit in surprise at this revelation. Two officers? He sure hadnt expected that.

"They're cute though, so they're forgiven", the girl flashed him a smile before she continued to walk with her friend. The gears in Akari's head started spinning at high speed now. Could one of those officers have been Joseph...? His heart skipped a beat and he started heading towards the pool instead of the bathroom.

In said room, Joseph was relaxing in a corner of the pool with his eyes closed and his arms resting on the edges. A few steps away, Shokichi and Michelle were enjoying the same experience, of warm water embracing their tired, stiff bodies. There were a few recruits in there as well. Some were swimming while others were relaxing on towels on the surrounding floor.

Joseph pried one eye open to peek at Shokichi. Had they been alone, he would have been all over him, but for obvious reasons he couldnt. It wasnt that they were trying to hide their relationship. They just thought it innapropriate to kiss and hug while they were practically at work, and around their students. He pushed away from the edge of the pool and dived under the water, emerging through the surface two seconds later, close to Shokichi. He smiled playfully at him when their eyes met and then he moved to heave himself up onto the floor to get out of the water. Right as he did this, a familiar person stepped hesitatingly into the room. An all too familiar person. Joseph wasnt one to easily feel umcomfortable, though there was something weird about this guy.

A slightly forced grin stretched his lips apart where he stood, dripping from head to toe.

"Hey...Hizamaru", he greeted him and walked over to where he kept his towel. Before Akari could say anything in return, their captain cheered at him from the pool.

"Akari! Why dont you jump in with us?" his cheerfulness was met with a hesitant smile. Since not alot of recruits seemed interested in swimming, Shokichi had put all of his hope in this newly arrived, possible play mate. The younger man relaxed a little, having recovered slightly from the sudden sight of Joseph's naked...body.

"Well I...actually came here to ask..", dont blush. Dont blush. Dont blush. "..ask Joseph if he wants to play some games", his gaze moved slowly from Shokichi to the cute blonde, as if he was anxious to see his reaction. Both men stared back at him for a moment before Shokichi broke the silence.

"Oh... of course!" he gave them a thumbs up and Joseph seemed to have suddenly remembered what Akari was on about.

"Right. The games", he grinned at him and started drying his dripping hair with the towel. He peeked at Akari once during this procedure and was not surprised to see him looking back at him. This time it was Joseph's turn to blush and he was seriously starting to wonder if they guy had a thing for him. Nah..he was just overthinking it. He was probably just...looking up to him. An admirer. Not at all unthinkable.

When he was done drying off, he put his clothes back on and joined Akari by the door.

"So what do you wanna play?" he asked him, feeling relaxed again. He loved the idea of having a fan to...admire him. Yes. Totally awsome. Akari tried not to look at the blonde as they walked. He was struggling to forget the naked body he had just seen, and he was afraid he would get a boner if he looked. That would be a catastrophy.

"Whatever you like to play", he answered and focused his gaze ahead of him. This brought a small smirk to Joseph's lips.

"Ok then, but dont blame me when you lose", he would of course pick a game that he was really good at. The choice was made and he wouldnt go easy on him. He kept smirking for a while and they eventuelly reached the computer room where he and Shokichi played games on a regular basis.

"Have a seat", he made a gesture for the other man to enter the room before him.

"Thanks", Akari did what he was offered to do and went over to the nearest computer. Joseph took a seat next to him and turned his computer on. He waited in silence while the screen was loading. There were two games on his mind, but which one would give Akari more of a hard time? Hmmm. Not that he thouht the guy could beat him or anything, but...

"Oh..Halo", Joseph turned his head to see that Akari's computer had already started up and that he had found the list of playable games. The said man had a pleased smirk on his face as he scrolled through the list. So Halo wasnt an option then, Joseph thought to himself. Akari probably knew how to play it. He wasnt afraid of losing, of course... He just wanted to give his opponent a hard time. Yeah, that was it.

"Hmm...", he scrolled through his own list now that his computer had started up. "How about...", he scratched his chin. "Super smash bros?" he smirked at Akari, causing the man's heart to skip a beat.

"Sure", he agreed, playing cool, even though his legs felt like spagetthi currently. Not because of the challenge, but because of how the blonde happened to affect him. He was just glad he wasnt blushing. "It'll be fun to try something new", he added when the character select screen came up.

"Alrighty...", Joseph said once they had choosen their characters and a stage. The screen was loading once again, but only for a few seconds before both of them were dropped onto the stage. "Come at me", he added and leaned back slightly, expecting Akari to attack him. The said man thought this a bit..childish? but he thought he might as well attack Joseph since he didnt see any downside in doing so. The battle was on a few seconds later and he was doing really well. Super smash bros was in fact a game that he had played before, and so he had just tricked the other man inte thinking that he was a newbie. He couldnt imagine that Joseph would fall for it for very long though.

His eyebrows lowered as he concentrated on the fight on top of Hyrule castle. The blonde had done a pretty good job on kicking him off the stage a couple of times, but Akari knew that he was just as good. The beating only fed his motivation to win. He was learning Joseph's way of playing pretty fast and avoided a few punches before he managed to get a kick in. It sent his opponent's character flying across the stage and over the edge. Joseph didnt think much of this as it was normal for players to kick each other like that. What he hadnt expected though was for Akari to suddenly appear at the edge of the stage to smack him back down and into the abyss.

This caught Joseph by surprise at first and he frowned. He hated losing...and to a newbie? He glanced at the grinning man next to him before turning his attention back to the screen. His character was currently being dropped back down onto the stage and this time he would surely kick Akari's ass.

Seconds later, they were fighting again, more intensively than before. Joseph thought that he might have underestimated Akari and that's why he had lost. This round was a longer one as both of them had stepped up their game this time, refusing to let the other get a hold of them. Eventually though, Joseph's character was the one to fall off the stage yet again. It left him feeling a bit...aggravated. What the hell was this? How could he lose twice in a row? To a newbie? Or was he really...?

Akari couldnt keep his cool any longer with those suspicious, confused eyes staring at him. He burst out laughing.

"I'm sorry, man", he chuckled. "I have in fact played this before." Joseph raised an eyebrow at him before turning his attention back to the game. "Quite a few times."

"..Ok then...", Joseph chose a new game, seemingly suddenly unbothered by Akari's dirty playing. "Lets see how you'll do this time." The game he had choosen was tekken 6. One that he was especially good at. This time he would win for sure.

"Sure. Why not. Bring it", Akari replied tautingly, preparing himself for beating the blonde up again. He smiled to himself and glanced at the said man every now and then. He had totally dominated him. Something that he would...like to do in other areas as well... No, dont think about that now... He didnt want to get a boner or anything..

It was pretty easy to distract himself from his own mind though, considering that there was currently a cutscene playing out before them on the screens. Joseph skipped it and ended up at the menu, and then at the character select screen. He had played fighting games before, but not Tekken. He chose to play as this Lars character and Akari decided on Kazuya Mishima. When the first round started, Akari was immediately getting his ass kicked by Joseph. It was a revenge that he could let the other man have. First of all, he didnt know how his character worked, and second of all, he guessed it was only fair to let him win for once. He managed to get a few punches and kicks in here and there, but in the end he lost big.

Joseph still had about fifty percent of his life left. He smirked at the loser before round two was started. He enjoyed having the upper hand and winning. It was like it should be. In this second round, Akari was defending himself better, but was still not managing to do much damage to his opponent. It was frustrating as hell, and especially since he was now about to lose round two. He tried not feel too aggravated about this, but it was hard since he hated losing, just as much as Joseph did.

They played on for a while before it got a bit late and they both had to go their separate ways. Akari's heart was still pounding fast in his chest the rest of the night. He guessed he...felt sort of excited about today. It just...made him feel truly happy for the first time since... He didnt want to think of that now. He didnt want anything to ruin his moment. Somehow, getting to know Joseph and getting to be around him had made him feel strangely ...comforted and hopeful about the future.

He had spent two weeks on this ship by now. In two more, they would be landing on Mars. He knew that many of the recruits would die on their mission, but he never thought of himself as one of those. He knew that no one was safe, not even the officers. He didnt want to lose his chance at getting to be with...a certain person. Hell..he wasnt even sure of what Joseph's sexual orientation was. There was a big possibility he was into girls...Well..there was only one way to find out.

That night when Joseph went to bed, the recruit he had played with all afternoon came to mind. Even though the guy seemed a bit weird, at least around him, he was a pretty fun guy to hang out with.

The two of them kept playing every other day. More like every day actually, if time allowed it. Akari was growing more and more comfortable with Joseph as time passed, but there were also other...feelings growing stronger... He was starting to feel the need for..something more intimate. It was a bit painful and for every day that passed, his urge to touch and kiss the other man was getting harder to endure. It had gotten to a point where he was constantly considering asking him out. He was so scared of acting on his feelings, but he didnt know what else to do.

Today, Akari had wasted alot of time staring at Joseph throughout the day. He was mentally preparing himself for walking up to him. However, his body didnt seem to want to co-operate, which left him staring for a while longer. Luckily, Joseph hadnt seemed to have noticed. It wasnt until the evening came that he forced himself to take action, because prolonging this behavior just gave him more and more anxiety.

He felt a bit dizzy while waiting for some recruits to leave Joseph alone with their questions. So this was it... This was the moment he would have to take his chance. He couldnt avoid it anymore. Or well, he could... It's just that he would be too angry with himself to be able to go to sleep tonight. It was too late to back out of it anyway, because Joseph seemed to have noticed him staring now.

"Yes?" the blonde raised an eyebrow at Akari once the other recruits had left. There were still other people nearby though, and Akari didnt want to confess his love right here and now.

"Can we talk? In private?" he asked, swallowing. There was an amused grin on Joseph's face suddenly and Akari could only wonder what he was thinking. He probably found him weird again. Not that he cared.

"Sure", Joseph replied eventually, wondering what could possibly need to be discussed secretively. He waved him over anyway and the two started walking down the hallway. Akari lead the way, looking into most rooms that they passed to see if any of them were empty. It was strangely silent between them as they walked. Not a word came from the brunette and Joseph didnt want to ask anything either. Something just felt...odd.

Eventually, Akari found an empty room. It seemed to be a small common room with a couch and a couple of armchairs and various other furnishings. His heart was beating so hard in his chest as he stepped inside. It was as if it was trying to break out of his chest.

"Sooo..What's up?" came the expecting question behind him, only worsening his condition. He realized that he would have to...just blurt this out fast. Still, he didnt feel quite ready to do so. He watched the blonde step into the room to face him and it was obvious from the look on his face that he knew something was wrong. That something was off. This was just so difficult. Much more difficult than he had imagined it to be.

"I...", his gaze shifted from Joseph and to the door. "You know... I was wondering...", his gaze met with the other man's again. No, he couldnt look him in the eyes, so he steered his gaze away to settle on something else. "..if you would..like to...", he settled his eyes on the floor before him suddenly and made a painful face. "..go out with me...", those last words were quiet and barely audible. He was so extremely embarrassed that he just wanted to sink through the floor. He couldnt imagine what must be going on inside the other man's brain right now.

As expected, Joseph was indeed shocked by this revelation. His eyes were slightly widened and his mouth had opened slightly in silence. What...? Had this guy been...into him this whole time? He felt...strangely... uncomfortable, but also flattered. He really hadnt suspected a thing...ever. Akari sure was a handsome, nice guy...but... He cleared his throat.

"Sorry... uh...I'm with the captain", he scratched neck, feeling embarrassed too. He tried to act casual about it all, but he felt kind of bad about it. When Akari's eyes met with his again, there was surprise in them. The captain? Akari's head spun for a moment. THEIR captain? He felt as if he was living in a dream right now. He couldnt remember if he had said anything in return or not when he left the room. He was so upset. He couldnt get himself to even say goodbye to Joseph. All he wanted right now was to get back to his room and to be left alone.

As he walked with fast steps, he struggled to keep himself calm and collected. It hurt so bad. So freaking bad. What was he to do now? He couldnt just forget about Joseph. He couldnt just shut his emotions out...

It wasnt exactly a happy Joseph going to bed that night. He felt so bad for Akari. He felt guilty and...also a bit angry. It wasnt his fault that the guy had to go and fall for him. He had no part in it... still, he felt bad.


End file.
